


investment

by ayykaashi



Series: AkaKuro Week 2017 [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AkaKuro Week 2017, Akakuro - Freeform, M/M, Post WC, angsty? or hurt/comfort i guess, character study I guess, it's not really romantic more on friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 02:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10607403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayykaashi/pseuds/ayykaashi
Summary: [Akashi-centric] It took Akashi way longer than it should have to realize that Kuroko was more than just his investment. It took him too long, and cost him more than he would have expected. || DAY 3: irony + acceptance + "it's your win"





	

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in a weird mood..this wasnt whAT I PLANNED RI P ME ENJOY ?? SCREAM

“Humor is everywhere in that there’s irony in just about anything a human does” – Bill Nye

 

* * *

 

 

Akashi knew that this would come back to bite him in the ass one day.

Kuroko was, for a lack of better word, an investment.

Akashi started small with it, gave a small thing, placed an amount of sorts in Tetsuya—the idea to use his lack of presence as a weapon. Then, he watched as Tetsuya found everything out by himself and climb his way to the top with them.

However, like all investments, they can fail or refuse to grow at some point. Sometimes, there will be a standstill in the market and the money. That time was in their third year, when Tetsuya quit the basketball team and Akashi changed. Things did not move, and Akashi felt _disappointed_ that his investment failed. He grew even more disappointed when he found out Kuroko was in a _no-name school_ and trying to bring it to the top.

Really, he began to think that maybe this was one of those investments that were only good for a short term. And so he began with a newer investment, such things are only natural for him, who was business and goal oriented, after all.

How ironic was it, then, that the investment he considered to have been a failure, would still grow and turn out to be of more value than his current investment?

Inside him, the real him sat away from him, scoffing and chastising him that he should have _known_ this would have happened. But he refused to listen.

It felt so strange and so bothersome watching Tetsuya draw attention to himself, because this was not what he wanted, not what he should be doing. He invested in him to create a player that would shadow for the Miracles, not a star player or the shadow of a useless mongrel!

The voice of his real self angrily whispered back, “ _I_ wanted another player, simple as that! Don’t twist my, or _our_ wants!”

He didn’t listen.

Honestly, how ironic it was it was his own investment that bit him in the ass.

Looking at the figure of the childhood friend of Kuroko that he helped ruin, the tears of Daiki and Ryouta from the stands, the look of the other Miracles, and the winning smiles of Seirin, he couldn’t help but feel bitter and proud all at once.

The dark side of him raged and lost itself, giving space for his real self to rise and take control. Loss was bitter-tasting, and it scratched at his throat and the inside of his mouth, but he knew he deserved it and had to accept it. It was ironic, but he knew this was coming, and deserved it all with his sins.

His teammates were in a better state than he, because they were used to loss, and knew how to deal with it. For him, on the other hand, this was a strange, new thing. Akashi swallowed the taste of bile— _his loss, his first ever loss_ —and faced Seirin’s team. His now red eyes took in the sight hungrily—the sight of cheers not for them but for the other team, the sight of the court he lost on his first loss—and bore everything into memory, and allowed the wave of regret, bitterness, anger and sadness—and the memory of his wins at Teiko— to come over him as he thought, ‘ _Keep in this mind and heart, Seijuuro. This is what loss feels like. Remember it well.’_

Red eyes scanned the area, taking everything in as much as he could, before they stopped on a certain figure being lifted up in the air. Blue hair, blue eyes, and a smile that seemed so foreign, yet it looked like it belonged right where it was.

His investment. Tet—Kuroko.

Kuroko wasn’t his investment. Maybe he was, but not anymore. Kuroko was as much of a player as any of the Miracles were, maybe even more and better.

The bile was rising back up and something warm tickled the back of his eyes and he clenched his fists at his sides. Memories of second and third year Teiko days licked at him and the thoughts overlapped with the current events unfolding in front of him.

With heavy feet, he made his way over to Seirin and watched as the team dispersed at his presence. Kuroko looked at him and for some reason, he _smiled_ at Akashi—he didn’t deserve that smile, not after what he did, what he made the others do _he didn’t fucking deserve it_. Akashi held a hand out and gave a small, rueful, yet somewhat accepting smile with a chuckle, and said, “It’s your win, Kuroko.”

Kuroko suddenly seemed to beam at him, and raised his hand slowly towards him.

Akashi prepared himself for a slap or a punch, because it was what he deserved. After everything he’s done, even if it was his other self’s doing, he knew it was still him—a dark and dirty part of him—that did all those things, from middle school to now. He knew Kuroko wasn’t a man of holding grudges, but wasn’t above physical injuring as seen with his jabs. Any physical pain would be a blessing right now, because he fucking deserved it—

“It’s also yours, Akashi-kun.”

Huh?

What?

There…was no pain. Instead, there was a strange, tingly warmth on his nape, his waist, his back, and his shoulder. It took him a moment to realize he was not hit or being hit, but instead, he was being hugged. By Kuroko. By the one person he knew didn’t deserve any sort of forgiveness from, the one he wronged the most—

“I’m glad you’re back, Akashi-kun,” Kuroko whispered against his sweaty jersey, and he could feel his warm breath passing through the said material, “We both won today. Seirin, this match, and you, your own.”

For just that moment, the world around them quieted down and Akashi suddenly felt young and vulnerable again. He couldn’t stop the small shaking of his hands as he raised them in an awkward attempt to hug back yet stay a safe distance, but the reassuring squeeze from Kuroko urged him to continue on. When his hands reached the other’s back, he felt himself slump and heave a big breath of air. His grasp on Kuroko went tighter, and he relished the vibrations of Kuroko’s chuckle against his bone.

His voice was shaky, but against the blue locks that slightly tickled his face, he whispered, “Thank you, Kuroko, thank you. I’m so sorry.”

The even tighter hug was all he needed to give a real smile against the blue strands of hair, and to let the burning pain behind his eyes take over for just a brief moment as he closed his eyes and snuggled into the warmth he knew he didn’t deserve, but wanted so, so much.

Kuroko was not his investment. He was a player, the best kind of player there is, was and will be. And he was also the best friend one could ask for.

_Thank you._

_I’m sorry._

**Author's Note:**

> i hope yall liked it!! hmu on tumblr + twit @ayykaashi ;)


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